The Verge has released a video that shows how blockbuster movie makers are using color to show certain moods and to make you feel different ways when watching a scene or movie. There is a science behind why particular colors draw out certain emotions, and they delve into what exactly Hollywood does to get that specific look. Blue and orange are the most used, it's not quite clear why, but they are. According to the video, it might be because it makes the actors pop against the background.
Yellow for movies shot in a desert, warm red tones for romances, desaturated colors to give a futuristic dystopian look, and blue cold tones for horrors are only a few of the variants to digitally affect the tones and therefore our emotions.
Here's another video essay about the color tones; I'll certainly check out the blue and orange look in future.
"How do you explain what magenta looks like or how turquoise feels." It's not as easy as it looks - literally. There is a philosophy behind the way light is projected from objects. "Color was used to enhance the dreamlike quality of cinema."
There is much more to it than just making a video or photo pop. What are your color tones saying, what are you trying to say with the shot? It's an interesting learning curve for me, and I feel very fortunate to be part of the photography community who get to learn and pay attention to things others might not notice.
Possibly because skin-tones are primarily in the orange rage, and so it's natural to use the complimentary of blue, which appears a lot in nature, so our eyes recognize the contrast as fairly natural.
In regards to the use of blue I would say much of the purposeful use of blue today comes from the effect of films of the past that used tungsten balanced film causing a blue cast to form. Of course the same thing can be achieved with digital, but I think we are now conditioned to accept that look, especially in night scenes. For me it equals night, and night is often the time of day where many horrors films take place, so that blue maybe be further emphasized for such movies. I've seen newer films where you don't get that blue effect at night, or it's been eliminated, and I find them much less appealing.
Of course blue is also used in other instances, such as in winter scenes.
Thanks! Great share~
Perhaps there's more to the world than you know and if you open your mind and start seeing the truth you too can know these secrets.... Or maybe its because I'm blue aba di aba di